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Members of the Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Podravje Maribor visited the ERM outdoor course in Modraže to see how certain laws of nature work. We recorded a report that was also interpreted into sign language.

During winter nature is usually resting, however, the lecturers and guides still managed to successfully present the activities and processes at the outdoor course: constructed wetlands, ecoremediation approaches, the importance of substantial development, etc. The visitors liked it so much that they decided to return during the summer.

Video report

View photos from the event.

Video transcript

Several days ago members of the Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Podravje Maribor visited the Nature’s Classroom outdoor course in Modraže, in the Municipality of Poljčane.

Prof. Ddr. Ana Vovk Korže, head of the Nature’s Classroom project:We wanted them to engage their understanding, their view of the Nature’s Classroom, and it’s very interesting to see that they perceive and relive these teaching methods with all their senses.

At the educational outdoor course, which combines 24 educational environments for natural ecosystems, the participants learned about new approaches to solving current environmental problems, such as cleaning waste water.

Andreja Kovjanič, member of the Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Podravje Maribor: What I found interesting was the explanation how plants purify the wastewater and how they help make it clean. I’d like to return to the course, maybe at a later time, during a warmer season, when the nature will come alive as well.

Marija Koser, sign language interpreter: The biggest problem of the deaf is communication, understanding words and concepts. Sadly, they can’t hear the words we hear through different media and they also can’t read or perceive them easier. The deaf sometimes cannot understand words, even if they are written down. That’s why we’re interpreters, not translators. Translators translate a word simultaneously, while we interpreters interpret it in a way to make it understandable for them.

Bedrija Črešnik, chairman of Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Podravje Maribor: It is great that we are in contact with nature and see how nature actually helps us and helps the environment to become what it should have been. The lecturers explained to us how this cycle works in the nature. We didn’t know much about it, as we don’t have certain options to learn more about this topic.

That’s why it’s important to allow the deaf and the hard of hearing to participate in environmental education without communication obstacles. It is our wish that in the future as many special target groups as possible visit the Nature’s Classroom. We are also planning to enable wheelchair access, so those who are bound to wheelchairs will also be able to experience a piece of the natural environment and understand its importance for human kind.